Composer Feature: Ketty Nez

Happy Composer Feature Friday! This week we’re highlighting Ketty Nez.

Ketty Nez joined the composition and theory department at the Boston University School of Music in 2005, after teaching for two years at the University of Iowa. "Listen to a Wonder Never Heard Before!", her portrait CD as composer/pianist, was released in 2010 by Albany Records. Her folk opera, "The Fiddler and the Old Woman of Rumelia", was premiered in a staged version in May 2012, by Juventas New Music Ensemble.

Her piano concerto "thresholds", performed by Ketty and the Boston University Wind Ensemble, was released in July 2013 by Ravello Records. BUWE also recorded four scenes for "Juliet", released February 2019 by Summit Records. Her CD's of chamber music with Albany Records also include "double images" (2020), "far sight sun light" (2023), and "through the light" (2025). During the fall term of 2021, Ketty was a guest teacher at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, as a Fulbright scholar. In 2024, Ketty co-founded the BiND Ensemble, with saxophonist Jennifer Bill and violist Daniel Doña.

Ketty’s music frequently explores her Balkan heritage. Her two recent albums "far sight sun light" and "through the light" by Albany Records give an idea of this, as well as her folk opera "The Fiddler and the Old Woman of Rumelia."

Make it stand out

Ketty’s opera, “The Fiddler and the Old Woman of Rumelia” was staged by Juventas in 2012.